People often perceive Japanese as people who love cats. Many Japanese restaurants and shops, even in the United States, have a cat (Maneki Neko) to bring luck. I have even seen people in Japan walking their cats. This shows that the Japanese think highly of cats. With their love and the internet sensation of cats (memes, grumpy cat, Pusheen), the cat cafe has become a popular place in Tokyo and is coming to western cities such as London and Los Angeles. Because of Tokyo's large population and the small apartments, there is not enough room for animals. The cat cafe's are a great place where people can bond with cats.
Some of these cat cafes serve tea and coffee and others don't. There are a variety of cats and the cafes offer a menu that provides information about the cats.
There are about 100 cat cafes in Japan and a large number of those cafes can be found in Tokyo². Here is a map of all of the cat cafes in Japan. If the map is zoomed out, the whole country of Japan (especially Tokyo) is covered in cats, symbolizing the amount of cat cafes and their love for cats. This represents the Japanese/Tokyo culture and how space is used in Tokyo since animals are not permitted due to the limitation of space in apartments. Most people in Tokyo live in apartments and most apartments do not allow pets. Not having pets saves space and makes the environment cleaner (although cats are usually clean). The cat cafes also represent the booming cat industry in Tokyo and internet cat sensations. Having these cat cafes provides an opportunity for people to give a cat their love and affection since cats are not allowed in most apartments. It also shows how important cats are to the Japanese and how unique the Japanese culture is.

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1. Time Travel Turtle. "Tokyo cat cafe." Web. 4 March 2014

2. CNN. Hoy, Selena. "A guide to cat cafes in Tokyo." Web. 4 March 2014

3. The Guardian. "tokyo cat cafe." Online Video Clip. Youtube. Youtube. 25 June 2013. Web. 4 March 2014.

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